Story : Aliens invade the Earth, and nations gather together with the Xcom project in order to protect humanity and learn more about the aliens. The story is nothing amazing though. You just research alien technology, kill them and proceed.

Graphics : Nothing amazing but for a turn based strategy game it is quite good. The game is easy on the GPUs. There are at times some graphical clitches though which could have been polished better.

Gameplay : When I was a kid in the 90s Xcom series were one my fav games. It was my first ever introduction to a turn based strategy game and it blew my mind off. So it is not hard to say that the new Xcom game plays the same and gives me the same excitement that I had when I was a kid. You start with a team of 4 people (can go for 6 people after some research and leveling up) and you fight with hordes of aliens. Earlier smaller maps usually have 4 aliens to fight against, but later on you can encounter up to almost 30 aliens on UFO raids. Make sure to research every single alien technology out there because your weapons and armors will be stronger in that way. There are many technologies to research and always keep your labrotory busy. When you kill an alien, its equipment gets destroyed, so make sure to capture aliens live at times in order to use their gears later on, because engineering alien guns are very expensive and the money is very tight in the game. Which leads me to give you the recommendation to never loose any support from the Xcom nations. When you loose their support, they simply never come back to the program which decreases your overall montly income. Always keep a satellite and latest tech aircarfts above the nations. If 8 nations withdraw from the program, the game ends. Playing the game in the medium setting was a very nice challange so start from there. Also plan your every move well because you can never know when the aliens can flank you. One of the other important thing to do is to make sure your soldiers survive so they can level up to become an even stronger soldier. With each rank they gain an ability and those abilities will be the only factor that you will win the rounds later through the game. So make sure one of your soldiers level up as a medic so he/she can carry upto 3 medkits and trust me you will need them. When I had a group of 6 soldiers, I used to have 2 medics in my team, 1 sniper, 1 heavy , 1 psi and 1 assault soldier, which I found to be the best combination for my gameplay.

Length : So far I invested 47 hours in the game because I started different playthroughs due to some silly mistakes. My last and best playthrough probably was around 10 hours or so.

Sound : Nothing amazing. Does the job.

Replay Value : Well since I already did several playthroughs I am done with the game for the time being. I can see myself playing it again in the future though because simply there isn't a game out there that is similar to Xcom Enemy Unknown. There are other turn based games but for me Xcom Enemy Unknown takes the crown. Although I bought the game on a Steam sale for around $20, I would still be happy if I paid the full price.

Threatened by an unknown enemy, the Earth's governments unite to form a secret paramilitary organization, known as XCOM, to combat this extraterrestrial attack. As the commander of XCOM, you control the global defense team and its resources in a battle against the terrifying alien invasion. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a reimagining of X-COM, the classic strategy game from 1993, and developed by the award-winning creators of Civilization. You will control the fate of the human race by creating and managing a fully operational base, researching alien technologies, planning combat missions, and controlling soldier movement in battle.

Details:

Detail

Value

Binding

DVD-ROM

Brand

2K Games

EAN

0710425411465

Feature

Global Threat: Lead your squad in fierce battles to defeat the alien threat, and rescue civilians in crowded cities and desolate outlands around the world.
Strategic Base of Operations: Build and expand your XCOM headquarters, recruit and develop unique soldiers to take into battle, and research alien technology to expand your weapons and capabilities.
Tactical Multiplayer: Mix and match aliens and soldiers and combine abilities to outsmart and overpower your opponent.
Requires internet connection and free Steam account to activate
Special Edition Features include a fold out poster of the XCOM base- An art book detailing the conceptual journey of re-imagining the classic, a patch of the XCOM Viglio/Confido insignia and digital bonus items including multi-monitor desktops, soundrack and more.